The Audio Long Read

Scientist James Lovelock gave humanity new ways to think about our home planet – but some of his biggest ideas were the fruit of a passionate collaboration. By Jonathan Watts. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

In avatar therapy, a clinician gives voice to their patients’ inner demons. For some of the participants in a new trial, the results have been astounding. By Jenny Kleeman. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2021: Last year, three cryptocurrency enthusiasts bought a cruise ship. They named it the Satoshi, and dreamed of starting a floating libertarian utopia. It didn’t work out. By Sophie Elmhirst. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

The French cement giant started operating in Syria just before the civil war erupted. When Islamic State took over the region, Lafarge paid them protection money so it could keep trading. The consequences are still playing out. By Samanth Subramanian. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

As a Spanish reporter, Pablo González charmed his way into Russian opposition circles and covered Putin’s wars. Then, in 2022, he was arrested on suspicion of espionage. Many former associates now believe that he betrayed them. By Shaun Walker. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2020: After decades among the hidden homeless, Dominic Van Allen dug himself a bunker beneath a public park. But his life would get even more precarious. By Tom Lamont. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

Over the past 20 years, the symbol of remembrance for the war dead has become increasingly ubiquitous – and a culture of poppy policing has grown with it. By Samira Shackle. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

From football clubs to water companies, music catalogues to care homes, private equity has infiltrated almost every facet of modern life in its endless search to maximise profits. By Alex Blasdel. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2019: For a century, the humble paper towel has dominated public toilets. But a new generation of hand dryers has sparked a war for loo supremacy. By Samanth Subramanian. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

As generative AI advances, it is easy to see it as yet another area where machines are taking over – but humans remain at the centre of AI art, just in ways we might not expect. By Rachel Ossip. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

It used to be that Britons would complain about Americanisms diluting the English language. But in fact it’s a two-way street. By Ben Yagoda. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2018: How an extreme libertarian tract predicting the collapse of liberal democracies – written by Jacob Rees-Mogg’s father – inspired the likes of Peter Thiel to buy up property across the Pacific. By Mark O’Connell. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

From razor-wire fences and crumbling cells to no windows and overcrowding, conditions in most jails mean rehabilitation is a nonstarter. Here’s how we can create better spaces for prisoners. By Yvonne Jewkes. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

As leader of the AfD’s most radical faction, he is infamous in Germany and his critics have long accused him of using language that echoes the Nazis. This year, a court put that question to the test. By Alex Dziadosz. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2017: The world-beating British sandwich industry is worth £8bn a year. It transformed the way we eat lunch, then did the same for breakfast – and now it’s coming for dinner. By Sam Knight. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

I spoke to dozens of people – from ‘donors’ to brokers – to find out how this exploitative trade thrives on chaos and desperation. By Seán Columb. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

It began as a routine investigation into a multinational called ENRC. It became a decade-long saga that has rocked the UK’s financial crime agency. Now new documents illuminate a case that has rewritten UK law and is set to end with a huge bill handed to taxpayers. By Tom Burgis. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2016: Rats spread disease, decimate crops and very occasionally eat people alive. For centuries, we have struggled to find an effective way of controlling their numbers. Until now… By Jordan Kisner. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

Our twins spent two years at primary school in Chengdu. Their lessons featured alarming cautionary tales and stories of Chinese superiority, but there was fun and irreverence, too. By Peter Hessler. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

She’s been called a neo-fascist and a danger to Italy. But she has won over many heads of Europe, including the UK prime minister. Should we be worried? By Alexander Stille. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2015: After 12 years in the US, Gary Younge is preparing to depart – as the country’s racial frictions seem certain to spark another summer of conflict. By Gary Younge. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

The Colombian drug lord’s exotic menagerie fell apart after his death, and now wild hippos are breeding out of control. By Joshua Hammer. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

My commitment to breastfeeding exclusively was related to shame. If I couldn’t do it, I felt I would be letting the baby down. By Niamh Campbell. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2014: A shared history of 300 years could be washed away if Scotland votes for independence. What was the complex identity the United Kingdom created – and should we mourn its loss? by Ian Jack. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

To celebrate 10 years of The Long Read we gathered together the team who launched it to take you behind the scenes. Helen Pidd is joined by editor David Wolf, deputy editor Clare Longrigg, and former editor and founder of the Long Read Jonathan Shainin.. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

Without plankton, the modern ocean ecosystem – the very idea of the ocean as we understand it – would collapse. Earth would have no complex life of any kind. By Ferris Jabr. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

The rise of artificial intelligence has sparked a panic about computers gaining power over humankind. But the real threat comes from falling for the hype. By Navneet Alang. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2021: In 2018, Indian police claimed to have uncovered a shocking plan to bring down the government. But there is mounting evidence that the initial conspiracy was a fiction – and the accused are victims of an elaborate plot. By Siddhartha Deb. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

I took a cruise with thousands of fellow lunatics to find out how this much-mocked rock band became so beloved. By Luke Winkie. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

Perhaps a foreigner knows more about their adopted land than the locals, because a foreigner feels more acutely the particularities of a new environment. By Xiaolu Guo. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2021: Before the 17th century, people did not think of themselves as belonging to something called the white race. But once the idea was invented, it quickly began to reshape the modern world. By Robert P Baird. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

When Putin invaded, a historian in Kyiv saw that Ukraine’s cultural heritage was in danger. So he set out to save as much of it as he could. By Charlotte Higgins. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

This summer, one of my lectures was protested by far-right students. Their rhetoric brought to mind some of the darkest moments of 20th-century history – and overlapped with mainstream Israeli views to a shocking degree. By Omer Bartov. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2019: Countries around the world are making it easier to choose the time and manner of your death. But doctors in the world’s euthanasia capital are starting to worry about the consequences. By Christopher de Bellaigue. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

For children with ADHD, getting the help they need depends on being correctly diagnosed. As a doctor, I have seen how tricky and frustrating a process that can be. By Jack Goulder. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some notable pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2022: Five years after the fire that killed 72, the inquiry is nearing a close. Over 300 days of evidence, what have we learned about the failings that led to disaster? By Robert Booth. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

In the 1970s, David Duke was grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. In the 80s, he was elected to Louisiana’s house of representatives – and the kinds of ideas he stood for have not gone away. By John Ganz. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

As a young man, Partha Banerjee was on course to become a senior member of the RSS, the organisation that has pushed Indian politics towards extreme religious nationalism. Then, after decades within its ranks, he quit. Why? By Rahul Bhatia. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

Every Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2024, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from May: Advances in fields such as spectrometry and gene sequencing are unleashing torrents of new data about the ancient world – and could offer answers to questions we never even knew to ask. By Jacob Mikanowski. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

By the time my wife got a diagnosis, her long and harrowing deterioration had already begun. By the end, I was in awe of her. By Michael Aylwin. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

Every Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2024, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from February: Ever since the displacement of 700,000 Palestinians in 1948, many have been living in dejection and squalor in camps like Shatila in Beirut. Is this the grim future the people of Gaza could now be facing? By Ghaith Abdul-Ahad. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

Working in food aid delivery, I have seen the benefits of embracing new technologies. But some problems need to be solved between humans. By Jean-Martin Bauer. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

Every Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2024, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from February: In 2005, Glasgow council offered to compensate women for historic pay inequality. But it sold them short again – and soon workers all over the UK started fighting for what they were owed. By Samira Shackle. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

My father did terrible things during the second world war, and my other relatives were equally unrepentant. But it wasn’t until I was in my late 50s that I started to confront this dark past. By Martin Pollack. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

Every Friday in August we will publish some of our favourite audio long reads of 2024, in case you missed them, with an introduction from the editorial team to explain why we’ve chosen it. This week, from January: Nicholas Saunders was a counterculture pioneer with an endless stream of quixotic schemes and a yearning to spread knowledge – but his true legacy is a total remaking of the way Britain eats. By Jonathan Nunn. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

Since its discovery in the 18th century, nitrous oxide has gone from vaudeville gimmick to pioneering anaesthetic to modern party drug. By Mark Miodownik. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

When Abiy Ahmed took power in Ethiopia, he was feted at home and abroad as a great unifier and reformer. Two years later, terrible violence was raging. How did people get him so wrong? By Tom Gardner. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2018: Nina Gold’s role is invisible, and yet her taste has shaped much of what we watch on film and TV. By Sophie Elmhirst. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

The cases heard at the Old Bailey offer a vivid, often grim portrait of England and Wales today. What happens when there is no one left to tell these stories? By Sophie Elmhirst. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>

I was once Ireland’s No 1 player, and tried for years to climb the global ranks. But life at the bottom of the top can be brutal. By Conor Niland. Help support our independent journalism at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/longreadpod">theguardian.com/longreadpod</a>